Summary

• Android 16 along with Material Expressive introduces "Shape" wallpaper cutouts, featuring vivid colors, offering a distinctive visual experience.
• Android 16 enhances home screens with real-time weather effects, synchronizing wallpaper visuals with the current weather conditions.
• Material Expressive modifications remain exclusive to Pixel phones for now, maintaining diversity among device manufacturers.

Android 16 is approaching, introducing a completely new design named “Material Expressive.” It focuses on personalization, including wallpapers. Google is implementing innovative features I’ve never encountered before—and I believe that’s a positive development.

The New “Shape” Wallpaper Effect

Let's begin with the somewhat unusual feature. A new “Shape” effect enables you to view your selected image inside a particular shape or cutout on your screen, with the surrounding area filled by a solid color of your choice. You can choose from five distinctly Google-like shapes, and your wallpaper will only appear within those boundaries. The rest of your screen’s background will be a single, consistent color, which can also be adjusted.

I frequently change my wallpaper, but I must admit I've never considered doing it this way. I can imagine it being practical if you have a complex wallpaper image or even a picture with people in it. This method could help prevent things from appearing overly cluttered. However, you cannot modify the cropping of the image.

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If the shape wallpaper seems like an experimental concept, the second new feature in Android 16 might appeal to you. Picture this: you look at your phone and see your wallpaper dynamically change based on the actual weather outside your window. That’s exactly what Android 16's new dynamic weather effects on your wallpaper will accomplish.

The concept is straightforward. For instance, if it's raining where you live, your home screen wallpaper, whether it's a cool pattern or a photo you took, will now have raindrops streaming down it. Or perhaps it's a chilly winter morning, and you'll notice tiny snowflakes drifting across your display. When the sun shines, your wallpaper might gain a soft, shimmering light effect, enhancing the warmth of your chosen image. The effect makes your phone feel more connected to your surroundings, which I find quite appealing.

One great aspect of this feature is its flexibility. You can opt for local weather effects, meaning your phone will use your location to fetch real-time weather data and apply the corresponding effect. If you simply want to set a particular mood, you can manually select a specific weather effect to be active all the time. The options currently available are Fog, Rain, Snow, and Sun. Choosing these is also a nice way to preview what each effect will look like if you decide to use the Local option.

Test These Features Yourself

To experience these new effects firsthand, join the Android 16 beta with a compatible Google Pixel phone. Once you have Android 16 installed on your device, go to Settings > Wallpaper & Style. Select an image from your library as a wallpaper and then tap the "Effects" button.

Even though these new wallpaper features are impressive, they bring up the same question as the entire Material Expressive redesign: Who will actually get to use them? Right now, we’re discussing these new features as part of Android 16. However, in reality, many of these will likely be restricted to Google Pixel phones.

Android’s diverse ecosystem means that Material Expressive might not reach the general public immediately, or at all. Unlike iOS, where Apple controls the entire hardware and software stack, Android permits manufacturers to layer their own “skins” on top of the base operating system. So while Google promotes these exciting new design elements, a company like Samsung will probably continue with its established aesthetic, leaving a significant number of Android users curious about what all the buzz is about.

“Fragmented” may sound negative, but it’s not inherently so. Android has always emphasized choice. If you like the Material Expressive design, you can buy a Pixel phone and enjoy it. But if you prefer Samsung’s One UI design, you can purchase a Galaxy phone and enjoy that. There’s no need for every phone to look identical.

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